The Hunted
by PaintedViolin
Summary: Four years after the opening of Jurassic Park, Robert has just as many doubts about keeping the tourists safe and keeping the more dangerous attractions confined. The idea of gladiator fights between dinosaurs is pitched the same night a storm sends the entire theme park into a blackout. WIP, reviews appreciated, M for gore and language.
1. Chapter 1: Advanced Species

**This is probably the fourth or fifth time I've attempted to write a Jurassic Park story from Muldoon's POV. The first one I tried was when I was 12, the most recent was a story I had up here maybe four years ago and I thought it was a decent story…then I read it again a few years later and was like, "KILL IT WITH FIRE"…but I digress…my brother just recently bought me Jurassic Park/World Lego for the Xbox and I finished it for the second time in five months and the whole thing put me in a very Jurassic Park-y mood. I'm in college with a buttload of work every day and yet when I procrastinate, I write or sketch, so this is me procrastinating. I hope to finish it and not leave it hanging, but if there's long bouts between chapters, I apologize. Hell, I'm even procrastinating my Walking Dead and Harry Potter stories, and have a long-standing in-progress Lord of the Rings fic.**

 **Anyway, here's a JP from Robert Muldoon's (and perhaps some OCs as well) POV with some other familiar characters. Imagine if JP had opened and was as successful as JW (for those who've seen the fourth film).**

 **/ /**

"Now, didn't I tell you that you worried all for nothing, Robert?" asked John Hammond as he and Robert stood overlooking the park from the Needle.

"I wouldn't say for nothing. It never hurt anyone to be cautious."

"It's only been bad for morale. Robert, my boy, it wouldn't hurt _you_ to be optimistic for once. Look at how far we've come in the past two years alone: from an idea on paper to a reality."

Robert saw the tourists below, all of them reduced to ants from the height of the Needle. None of them cared that Jurassic Park had two-hundred guards whose sole purpose was to monitor the dinosaurs around the clock to ensure maximum safety at all times. None of those people knew how Robert had fought Hammond every step of the way to make the park herbivore-exclusive or that even now after four years of watching the park build from the ground up and thrive, Robert wished he could have talked Hammond out of the whole thing. Dinosaurs were best left to the dust, long forgotten in the ground where only their skeletons were reconstructed instead of their living counterparts. The beasts were not meant for the world the way it was now with thousands of people milling in from all over the world to crowd in front of them, gawk at them, and snap endless photos.

If Robert had any sense at all, he would have quit long before now, but he did take pride in his work and he considered himself one of the best in his line of work. The job of head game warden in the world's grandest and most dangerous zoo was one he entrusted to no one else, not even the men and women who worked under him and who he had come to respect, even trust with his life. Some of them shared his distaste for the idea of reincarnating an extinct species while others saw it as a welcome challenge to learn about the dinosaurs and train them. But those who were with him now had not been present when the park suffered its first (and thankfully only) casualty. None of his companions now were there when Joffrey had been disemboweled mere feet from Robert who could do nothing but try to tug the man free. Those men who _had_ been on the premises during the incident all put in their resignations within the next few weeks. Robert was the only one left.

"I'll tell you what, Robert, tonight marks the three year birthday of Noona—"

"I know."

"The park's been promoting it for months now and the turnout was more than I could have hoped for. The vice president is even going to put in an appearance. I know you have paddock duty, but I'll arrange for someone to cover for you and I want you to just walk amongst the crowd during the countdown. See for yourself the wonder and excitement and appreciation these people have for what we've done. Maybe then you'll finally be convinced that you did the right thing."

"I walk amongst the people every day, John, I don't need to stand around at a ceremony for a triceratops to see that. I just think that it may be time for me to return to my roots and go back to overseeing predictable animals."

"Kenya's gotten on quite well without you these past few years, and it can manage for a long while yet. I know you, Robert, and you'd never forgive yourself for leaving if something were to happen—"

"So you finally admit that every day there is the high likelihood of something going wrong?" asked Robert.

"No, I'm simply stating that with how you are, you'll be back in Kenya with your mind still in Jurassic Park and you'll never be able to rest knowing that I put someone else in charge. Until the day you retire, your mind will always be here."

"And I don't thank you for that. I can never retire. I have to keep this job until I die."

"You're being melodramatic. Tonight, Triceratops Town eight o'clock sharp. Bring a friend."

"You're hilarious, John."

Robert left the old man standing at the observation deck as he jabbed the button for the lift to take him back to the bottom floor. As the glass doors slid shut, Robert heard the roar of the main attraction and felt the lift shudder ever so slightly. When he reached ground level, he felt that the lift could not have gotten him down quickly enough and made a mental note to check with the tech overseer to make sure that the thing was up to speed. Checking his watch, he saw that he still had fifteen minutes until his lunch break was over, and so he made for the open-service restaurant tucked into the corner of east wing by the bathrooms and the photo pick-up center.

A young man was on duty; he was about twenty-two years old and he had a baseball cap with the likeness of a brachiosaurus on it. He was arranging the straws at the grab-and-go utensil stand by color with a look of complete boredom on his face.

"Better not let Keenan catch you mucking around," Robert warned and the young man snapped to attention before seeing who his customer was and relaxing with a scowl.

"Don't sneak up on me like that," said Rhett.

"Well, I'd help myself to what's behind the counter, but I wouldn't want to deprive you of the opportunity to serve a customer."

Rhett flipped him the middle finger and slid across the counter between the register and the cardboard cutout of a cartoon brachiosaurus.

"You know that's unsanitary," Robert pointed out.

"Oh, piss off. I'm lucky if I get two people a day. The only reason anyone stops here is to screw around with the utensils or use a napkin to wipe their kid's boogers. I don't know why Hammond doesn't just close this place and put me somewhere else where I could be more useful."

"Doing what?"

"Anything but this," said Rhett wistfully. "I thought there'd be more to it than this. It's been almost three years since Tobias and Marx came to work here and both of them got the jobs that everyone always talks about, then you've got the kid brother who works at the dump _near_ the dump."

"Your brothers had jobs before this though, Rhett. They were doing this sort of thing when you were born and that's how they became qualified to work in the fields that they do. It's only because of their work ethic that Hammond agreed to hire on such a young person for a job here anyway. You hardly had to work for it, so be grateful that at least you're on the island without having to pay for it. And trust me when I say that none of the other jobs here merit that much glory. The attractions make all the humans running the park invisible to the public eye."

"One of my brothers is a game keeper and the other trains the show animals and I work at the Brach Snack Shack. You tell me how I'm supposed to be happy with that."

"Because if you didn't, you'd be working some low-end 9-5 job in Idaho, living in a one-bedroom apartment and eating Ramen Noodles every night for dinner. It could be a lot worse, kid. Now, fix me a burger."

/ /

Ten men stood on watch duty around the raptor paddock, monitoring their every move and preparing to fire a fatal shot at millions of dollars' worth of prehistoric savagery at the first sign of aggression towards the handlers. Robert saw two of his good friends, one of them being Rhett's brother. As he climbed onto the catwalk, Robert heard what the handlers had named "the raptor purr" below. He didn't know why, but every time he came by for his shift, the raptors communicated like this to each other.

"How's the pack?" he asked the nearest guard, Jay Kendrick.

"Quiet for the most part," said Jay. "Violet started digging again, so we had to call Tobias out to lure her off. If ever a raptor took interest in a human, it's him. He never even said anything; just came up onto the walkway, blew on his whistle to get her attention, and went off to the containment area and she followed him."

"Probably because he smells like every other dinosaur on the island."

"Or maybe you could give him credit for his job and admit that he's managed to make a connection with some of these animals," said Jay darkly.

"You cannot establish a connection with these things, especially raptors. They have no emotion; they only co-exist with other raptors for survival because they're pack hunters. The fact that they're siblings doesn't account for anything. If we left them to die in this paddock, they'd resort to eating each other."

"Working with you is the worst part of my day, dude. You just suck the happiness out of everything."

"I'm an alarmist, mate, it pays to be wary. And if you ask me, the raptors probably have Tobias marked; they don't give a damn about making a connection with him. From what we've observed coupled with what paleontologists predicted, raptors target their prey and focus on it entirely every time it's in sight. If the raptors are giving Tobias that much attention, they're probably looking at him like he's lunch."

"Don't let him hear you say that or he'll never come back," said Tobias's younger brother, Marx.

"Don't let me hear what?"

Jay gave Robert a reproachful look as Tobias came onto the catwalk, looking down into the paddock as if he expected to see something there. "I knew it," he muttered as he leaned further out to stare at an item directly underneath him.

"Do not tell me that you dropped something valuable down there," said Robert, following Tobias's gaze.

"If by valuable you mean my wallet with my car keys, IDs, credit cards, and access codes, then yes, I dropped something valuable," said Tobias as he squatted down on the catwalk and rested his head against the railing, swearing under his breath.

"All of those can be replaced. It'll take a few days of processing, but Hammond can get you spares in the meantime and reimburse you with anything you—"

"Marx, go get me the extension pole," said Tobias, ignoring Robert completely.

"No, Marx, leave the extension pole right where it is," said Robert, snapping his fingers at the younger brother. "Tobias, if this were a herbivore pen, I wouldn't have any problems with you fishing something out, but as it so happens, it's a raptor pen, the worst place to drop something, and by now they'll have smelled your scent on it, matched it with you, and laid out a plan to ambush or trick you into getting it back. Leave it."

"I know raptors are somewhere between dolphins and primates with intelligence, Robert, but even they can't be that smart. Besides, if I use an extension pole, they can't do a damn thing about it. I can grab it while they're sleeping."

"They're not sleeping, dude; as soon as you came back here they woke up," said Jay. "They're sitting in the bushes there, waiting for you to do something. Been watching you since you stepped onto the catwalk."

"I'm with Robert on this one, bro," said Marx apprehensively. "It's just a wallet."

"Just a wallet with all of my information in it that allows me to do my job and I can't even get back into my room if I don't have what's in there. If you're going to pussy out on me, give me the damn pole and I'll do it myself."

"I'll escort you off of the premises if you want to go that route, mate," said Robert.

"You're more than welcome to— _after_ I get my wallet."

"Or, I could just punch you in the nose right now."

Tobias snatched up the extension pole and was just maneuvering it into place when Robert heard it again: the raptor purr. For all of his talk concerning how clever the raptors were, Robert had yet to actually see them work together as a pack in taking out prey. He was curious to the point of it being a fault.

"Tobias, hold out the pole like you're going to lower it into the paddock."

"I _am_ going to lower it into the paddock."

"Hold it, don't lower it. I want to test something."

Tobias let the extension out to full length so that it was parallel to the ground and ever so slightly lowered it. Six raptors shot out of the foliage, snapping at the pole and Tobias who quickly reeled the pole in and swore.

"Damn," said Jay in an undertone. "They were legit waiting for you, dude. If you'd gotten that pole any lower, they could've whipped you right off the catwalk."

Robert tuned out Tobias and Marx making arrangements for how to have the contents of Tobias's wallet replaced as he looked down at the paddock's occupants. To avoid confusion, all of the animals in Jurassic Park had had trackers inserted into them at birth that were also equipped with numbers, letters, and colors to differentiate between them, especially in large herds of _gallimimus_ or _pterandons_. But since the public viewed the herds as herds rather than individuals, they more or less looked the same. Raptors, on the other hand, had to be distinguishable from one another, and so the scientists had injected pigments into the embryos to color-code one raptor from another.

The raptors not only had colors to set them apart, but personalities, which helped Robert identify the troublemakers and the more passive ones. It also helped that Hammond had given up trying to make all the dinosaurs exclusively female so that there was a difference in gender. Violet was a troublemaker and had to be called away from spots where she insisted on digging at least three times a week. The smallest of the pack was Jett, so named for the mostly black stripes covering his back, and he would play a game with the handlers of following directly under them as they walked above him, sometimes spinning in circles like a dog chasing its tail; a very dangerous, evil-looking dog. Hazel and Crystal were the most subdued of the siblings with green and white spots on the crests of their heads and they were the ones who would snap at their brother Red who was the most rambunctious and disobedient. Red was the beta of the siblings, right behind Silver who had the same colored marks around his eyes as well as a silver-tipped tail. Silver was the one who ate first, went to bed last, and always came out to look at Robert whenever he appeared on the catwalk.

"Why does he look at you like that?" asked Marx, seeing what Robert was focusing on.

"Because I'm food," said Robert. "And I'm a hunter, like him, so he sees me as a worthy adversary. If he was given the chance to stalk me, I would be the most well-earned meal he's ever had."

Walking back to his bungalow, Robert tried to shake off the feeling of Silver's eyes on him. In Kenya, Robert had been hunted by large cats of all sizes and chased off by elephants, rhinos, and crocodiles, but none of them had that distinctive look that Silver had. Silver was not just watching Robert; he was marking him for extinction. And to think that Hammond could not understand this or had no time for it when there were such things to be celebrated as a triceratops's birthday…


	2. Chapter 2: Weak Spots

The Tiki Hut was on an extended happy hour for the special occasion of Noona's birthday celebration, so Robert had to fight his way through a crowd of party-goers to reach the bar and ask the bartender Eva for a whiskey bottle that she always had set aside just for Robert since he preferred straight alcohol instead of the flourishes of tropical-flavored drinks. Eva was a golden-haired young woman of about twenty-two who worked along with her younger brother and father on Isla Nublar. Her father, Simon Bridges, was one of the veterinarians and her younger brother Trenton was here for the season on a summer internship. Eva actually helped bartend at night once her shift as an aviary pod observatory operator ended at five o'clock when the attraction closed.

"Cheers, love," said Robert, tipping his hat to her as he went upstairs to the balcony to watch the replaying slideshow of Noona's first three years of life on a giant projector below. The sidewalks were packed with tourists who had come to celebrate and some children waved sparklers around while others sent celebratory triceratops-shaped balloons into the atmosphere.

"Enjoying the festivities?" asked a voice from behind Robert and he saw Dr. Alan Grant approaching with a beer clutched in his hand. He leaned on the railing beside Robert and took a swig of his drink, shaking his head. "A triceratops's birthday is more exciting and better funded than a celebrity's."

"She's one of two triceratops to walk the earth in millions of years; of course she's going to have a big celebration."

"But all of the expenses that went into her party would have been better-served going towards further experimentation or extra security measures. Do you realize that we've had two of the aviary pods crack in the past week alone because the _dimorphodons_ keep flying into them? Either we have created a batch of stupid dinosaurs, or the pods aren't thick enough, and seeing as how _dimorphodons_ have the intelligence to fly in formation, I think we can assume that they aren't stupid."

"Have you talked to Hammond about this?"

"His hands are tied," said Grant. "He can't spend any more money on things that aren't directly beneficial to the tourist experience."

"And safety isn't a top priority for tourist experience?" said Robert incredulously.

"Apparently not."

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the countdown to Jurassic Park's very own triceratops celebration!" said the practiced and capricious voice of the park's announcer, Elliot Palmer. Elliot had the gift of impressions and was able to adopt different voices for the situation, but he mainly spent his days reporting things such as, "Toby Hollens, your family is waiting for you at the Video Arcade on the East Boardwalk," and "Would the owner of the fog horn please remove the batteries to your device?". Still, Elliot was an expert in putting on a false face for the occasion, something Robert had never mastered.

"Noona is one of two triceratops bred on the island, the other being our adolescent, Neo. She's also the only triceratops that has allowed handlers to ride her when she was introduced in our Jurassic Circus. But her circus days are over, because as of tonight, we are retiring Noona from anything but free roaming in her paddock. We're pleased to announce that a batch of four more triceratops were born this morning, and the babies will be available for viewing tomorrow at ten o'clock in the hatchling center."

"I don't know about you, but I just love the thought of thousands of people pressing their faces in at me hours after I was born to snap pictures of me trying to adjust to life," said Robert sardonically and Grant chuckled as he drained his beer.

"And now, join me in the countdown to Noona's birthday!" said Elliot. "Ten…nine…"

Robert watched the people on the pavement below start to jump up and down and pump their fists in time to the countdown and in the midst of it all, there was a drunken duo shoving at each other and starting to knock into the people around them. Though he was off duty, Robert knew he should go diffuse the situation, but two other members of security got there first, one of whom Robert recognized to be Christoph Landau, another one of his more trusted friends who shared in Robert's cynicism for the park's operations.

"How fares the raptor pack?" asked Grant presently in a slightly slurred voice.

"They made a go at Tobias today when he dropped his wallet."

"Did you report it?"

"The only way the pack is going to get taken out of the equation is if they eat someone, and seeing as how the race track is safer than their own paddock, I don't see the races being canceled any time soon."

Robert and Grant observed the crowd below for a while and it slowly started to thin out as people with children were forced to take their fussy offspring home and those who were drunk had their friends steer them back to their hotel rooms. It was when the balcony was all but empty that they were joined by another park veterinarian, Bianca Gigilo. At present, she was Grant's girlfriend of a little over a year since he and Dr. Sattler had parted ways when Grant went to work for Hammond. Where Sattler was mildly sarcastic, a bit of a mumbler, and rather shy, Bianca was nearly the exact opposite, which was why Grant planted a large, sloppy kiss on her cheek as stood beside him.

"How many has he had?" asked Bianca, shoving Grant away.

"As far as I know, one," said Robert.

Bianca scowled at Grant. "You are such a lightweight. Come on, let's put you to bed."

"I'm not drunk," Grant insisted. "I'm angry and alcohol is not helping."

"Then count from sixty to sixty-nine," said Bianca with her hands on her hips.

"Give him more credit than that," said Robert. "As a paleontologist, make him recite all of our species of dinosaurs alphabetically."

"Go to hell, Robert."

"How about you go to bed, Grant? I don't want to have to detain you for disorderly conduct, especially since you work here. And since you're one of the few people on my side, I want you to be completely sober when the investors show up tomorrow night. If you make me go into that meeting alone, I'll feed you to Red."

Bianca led Grant away and Robert stood alone on the balcony for a few moments more, watching the lights go out in the movie theater across the way. Deciding he had best leave so that the employees could clean up, Robert began his decent down the stairs, but stopped when he was just barely in sight of another member of security talking to Eva. The man was in his mid-twenties and was known for his pompous attitude as well as his futile attempts to hit on Eva.

Kurtis Drone had a rather large neck that seemed disproportionate to his head and a protruding jaw that made him look like he was always looking down on people, but apparently he thought these qualities were what earned him a spot with the ladies, for he was trying yet again to make a move on Eva as she wiped counters and piled used glasses onto a tray.

"Look, all I'm saying is that you'd be missing out. I can get you front-row seats to the next raptor race and I'll give you great odds on who wins."

"I don't like watching the races and even if I did, I work here, so I already can get front-row seats, especially since my dad's one of the top vets," said Eva without looking at Kurtis.

"I think you're just avoiding me."

"And why do you think that is?"

"Because he's a dumbass who can't take a hint," said Rhett from behind the counter with soapy hands. It was a mark of how much Hammond trusted Tobias and Marx to allow underage Rhett to work in the bar after closing to wash dishes.

"Beat it, junior," said Kurtis.

"Hey, man, she's clearly not interested, so leave her alone."

"I'll let her tell me that," said Kurtis.

"I'm not interested, Kurtis," said Eva with an appreciative nod to Rhett.

"Tell me you're not dating the human stick figure over there," said Kurtis with a roll of his eyes.

"Actually, I am, so if that's not reason enough to get lost, I'll be having a word with security."

"I am security, babe," Kurtis reminded her, nodding at his yellow badge.

"And I'm your superior," said Robert, deciding this adolescent quarrel had gone on long enough. "She's stated her opinion, Mr. Drone, and if you can't handle it, I'll have you put on suspended leave without pay for sexually harassing one of the best workers on the island and daughter to Mr. Hammond's most trusted vet. Now, sod off."

Robert stood in the doorway to ensure that Kurtis left, and then turned to the young adults who were finishing up their sweep of the area to round up any spare shot glasses and sweep away salt from margarita rims.

"I didn't know you two were an item," said Robert to break the silence.

"I didn't either," said Rhett, but there was a flush to his face.

"If Kurtis thinks we are, that's all that counts," said Eva.

"I'll keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't take any aggressive steps towards the pair of you," said Robert. "In the meantime, though, don't let yourselves be caught alone with him."

On the lonely walk back to his bungalow at a remote section of the compound situated away from most of the other live-in employees, Robert's thoughts jumped from Tobias's wallet to Grant's declaration of disgust over how the park's income was spent to Kurtis's advances on Eva. These concerns should have been the worst of anything Robert had to deal with, but they all seemed like minute discrepancies when compared to the real issues like raptors learning to ambush their handlers and safety pods obviously not being safe enough. The walls, the electric fences, the gates and security guards—it was all a lie on how virtually unsafe the park was. If the animals wanted out, they would find a way out and no man-made barrier could keep them at bay.


	3. Chapter 3: Imprinting

With the promise of rain later on in the day, the early morning skies were grey with weak patches of blue peeking through the clouds as the sun put in a feeble appearance. Robert dressed in a selection of his game warden uniform that varied with the shirts from pale blue to khaki-colored to white, but always with the same brown vest, hat, and boots and a small variety of shorts and socks. He was the only member of security allowed to keep a weapon on his person at all times, though he still had to check out a large weapon when making his rounds. He kept the pistol inside his vest, but clipped on a taser and his walkie-talkie as well as his ID cards.

It wasn't far to the main boardwalk if he took an employee cart and then he called in for the monorail to drop him off at Noona and Neo's specialized feeding unit where VIPs could feed the triceratops by hand and pet them. As expected, Noona was already up and eating her share of foliage before she ventured out into her extensive paddock to look for fresher food. Robert opened her paddock with his keys and went to her, cautious, but not in the least bit nervous since Noona was like the elephants he had helped train back home in Kenya. Triceratops were like elephants in that they could be trained and were affectionate towards their handlers, but could still pose a threat if aggravated or threatened. Robert, however, had been present at her birth and throughout her training in Jurassic Circus as he had with nearly every animal on the island per Hammond's request. If Robert was to excel at his job here as he had in Kenya, the animals needed to trust him, so he had spent ample amount of time with each of them to learn their habits.

Robert called softly to Noona who slowly turned her head towards him and continued to eat as she gave a soft grunt of welcome, which Robert took for assent to be touched. He patted her broad side, feeling the enormous set of lungs at work beneath her elephantine skin. Presently, Neo came trotting in with the intent of feeding alongside his cousin, and gave a more aggressive grunt. Neo had not gone through the extensive training that Noona had and was still wary around all personnel except for his personal handler who also happened to be Elliot Palmer. It was only because he was at least tolerant of Robert that he hadn't yet charged.

Holding up his hand and lowering himself onto one knee, Robert spoke in a calming voice to Neo. The adolescent tossed his head and scuffed the ground with one foot like a bull preparing to charge and Robert readied himself to roll aside if need be, but then Noona passed in front of him, blocking him completely from view with her body. Robert peered under her enormous belly to see Neo looking rather reluctant as he whined at Noona in their own dinosaur tongue. Noona gave a loud, fierce snort, and Neo's tail dropped in submission as he trudged around her to reach the feeding trowel.

Robert stood up and gave Noona a grateful pat on the back, in awe of this seemingly less-than-intelligent animal's defense of her human handler.

"Neo knows who's boss around here," said Allison Cartwright, an herbivore tour guide from the other side of the paddock. "He got fussy with me yesterday when I came to say hello before setting up, and Noona gave him a nudge in the ribs as a warning. She knows we aren't the threat."

"He hasn't been around humans as much," said Robert. "Give it a few years and he'll be teaching the new batch of triceratops the same thing."

"Well, my first tour is starting in a few minutes, so unless you want to stick around, you'd best get clear of the paddock," said Allison, opening the door for him.

The first order of business for the day was attending the raptor race, a daily event that happened early so that the raptors would be in the mood to hunt and perform at top speed to catch their meals which consisted of pigs, goats, rabbits, and other small mammals. The races had been introduced as the public's first interaction with raptors so that the speed, agility, and ferociousness of the animals could be viewed instead of observing them in their paddock. The paddock was actually connected to the race track via underground tunnel so that the raptors would follow the summons of their handlers to the race track with the promise of food and be directed into their designated starting cells where a reward of a lizard or rat would await them until the race started. After running a few laps around the track, the raptors would then be redirected to the tunnels and back into their paddock for the remainder of the day.

Tourists could place bets on which raptor they thought would catch the prey first, but not necessarily cross the finish line first. For the year since the raptor races were introduced, the champion varied from day to day based off of more than just speed and hunger, but it was more common for Red or Crystal to win than it was for Silver, Hazel, or Violet to emerge victorious. Jett still had the most wins with one hundred and sixty-four days out of three hundred and sixty five.

Robert attended every single race as a habit instead of a requirement and if he couldn't make it, he planned to send either Jay or Marx, but he had not yet taken a sick day to have need of them. Robert and other members of the control team watched from the security gate which they could open at a moment's notice if something went wrong on the track and the raptors needed to be subdued. As he and Grant had discussed the previous night, the track was safer for humans than the paddock because there was no open space or opportunity to make a jump for freedom, but there was no harm in being cautious. The roaring betters had no idea how easily the raptors could turn on them if they wanted, but this had not yet happened because the tourists were protected by electric wiring as well as a foot of one-way glass that allowed for the audience to see raptors, but not the other way around. The glass also blocked out sound so that the screams and goading of the people couldn't be heard by the raptors and upset them.

Today's race was already packing up with spectators, most of them rooting for Jett or Violet. Robert took his place at the security gate with his preferred SPAS-12 in hand while the containment crew around him was equipped with stunners and tasers. Elliot Palmer took his place in the announcer box to narrate the race and welcomed the spectators, giving odds and opinions on each raptor which he introduced one by one as a light went on over each cell. The crowd cheered for their favorite raptor and then with the sound of a horn that the raptors had come to associate with food, the cells opened and the six siblings shot out onto the track, pursuing a long-eared hare.

To Robert's surprise, Silver took an early lead in the first lap, but was overtaken by Crystal in the second. She and Hazel were neck and neck with Red coming up on their tails as they entered the third lap until it was a three-way fight for the lead. Violet snapped at Red's flank and her brother turned his neck to respond, allowing little Jett to spring forward and shoot past both of them. In the fifth and final lap, Crystal had gained a neck over the rest and was feet from the finish line when Jett made a leap for the hare, crossing the finish with all four sets of claws extended to grab the hare. He devoured the entire thing in two chomps and the crowd whistled their approval for the raptor who didn't even know how adored he was by the highly edible humans. As the raptors were coaxed off the track to return to their paddocks, the crowd made their way back out to the betting stations and Robert hung up his weapon, grateful that he didn't need it.

He stood at one of the betting counters, watching people come forward to collect their winnings while children hung off of their parents' arms, talking excitedly of which colored raptor was their favorite and how they wanted to pick up a stuffed souvenir of that same raptor at the gift shop. Some of the children asked to get photos with the raptors, but the parents had to explain how the raptors were extremely different from the herbivores by likening the raptors to animals that children knew were dangerous like lions and tigers.

"I know that look," said Grant, stepping in close to Robert so that their conversation wouldn't carry.

"I see you've sobered up," said Robert in greeting.

"I was never drunk," said Grant, though he looked a little hung-over nonetheless. "You don't approve of this, do you? It makes you sick."

"Doesn't it make you sick?" questioned Robert. Of everyone on the island, Grant respected raptors enough to see how wrong it was to make them show animals.

"Of course it does," said Grant, sounding slightly offended. "Robert, I went from digging these animals' remains up to studying them and helping the scientists create exact replicas of their ancestors. Even if I think that dinosaurs don't belong in this world now, I don't see that as their fault. I can't stop people from making zoos so that we can ogle at endangered species that will never know true freedom, but I can put up a strong front against using them like this."

"It's a representation of how little power even Hammond has over our benefactors," said Robert knowledgeably. "If we want to keep the park open, we have to give tourists something new every year and raptor racing is the newest thing, but also a year old, which means that at the board meeting tonight, there'll be something worse proposed. First it was the dinosaurs themselves, then circus training of the herbivores, then the petting zoo, then raptor racing, and now God-knows what Keenan's come up with."

Robert and Grant's conversation was interrupted by an inquisitive little girl whose father was busy talking with another better over the odds of Jett winning the next day as well.

"Do you work here?" she asked Grant.

"Yes, I do," said Grant with a strained smile since he hated answering questions for children who never seemed to run dry of them.

"Do you see the raptors race all the time?"

"I see them race a few times a week," said Grant, looking to Robert for help.

"Which one is your favorite?"

"Oh, I don't think I have a favorite—"

"Mine's Jett," said the girl before Grant could finish, eager to have her opinion stated. "Because he's small, but he won, so he's better than his brothers and sisters."

Suspecting that this girl was perhaps the youngest in a houseful of children and was using the smallest raptor as something of a model and inspiration for greatness, Robert didn't know whether to feel sympathy or exasperation on her behalf.

"What about you?" the girl asked Robert.

"I don't have a favorite either," said Robert. "Actually, they sort of scare me."

"Is that why you have that sparky thing?" asked the girl, pointing to Robert's belt taser.

Wondering how a six year old knew what a taser was, Robert nodded. "Those raptors are fast and they have pretty colors, but they're very dangerous. They're not like dogs; they're like wild, mean animals. And I'm scared of them because I don't want them to hurt other people, so that's why I carry this."

The girl's father told her off for "annoying the security guards" and hurried her away.

"Seriously, though, which one is your favorite?" asked Grant and Robert scowled at him.

Robert then spotted a girl sliding down the railing of a staircase that wound around a series of raptor skeletons with a giggle of delight.

"Oy!" shouted Robert. "Dismount the banister, little miss!"

Giving Robert a scandalized look, the girl's mother plucked her from the railing and walked away, muttering about grumpy security guards.

"You'd think that I was the animal instead of the person whose top priority is to protect these people," said Robert in disgust to Grant.

" _Robert, we have a situation in the raptor paddock,"_ said Jay's voice over the earpiece Robert wore. " _Silver and Red are attacking Jett and we can't break them up."_

"Get Tobias out there, I'm on my way," said Robert.

Grant, who was on the same frequency, had heard the message as well and followed Robert as he ran to the employee jeeps and drove as fast as he dared towards the raptor paddock about a mile up the road. Without turning off the car, Robert ran up the staircase at the paddock and out onto the catwalk to see Jett snapping back at his older and bigger brothers who were beyond the point of bullying their younger sibling for stealing the extra food. Whether or not it was the dislike of being shown up by the runt of the pack or because he felt that it usurped his position as alpha, Silver was biting into Jett viciously, so unlike the playful snaps the siblings usually reserved for one another. Jay and Marx had their stunners out, but were reluctant to use them because of how distrusting the raptors already were. Shocking them into submission now would only turn them more hostile against their handlers.

Tobias arrived in short order and Violet came out to watch him just as she had before, but far from being concerned about her stalking him, Tobias tried to get Silver and Red's attention. The male raptors ignored him.

"You'll have to stun them," said Tobias. "Stun them now, or they'll kill him."

Robert put his fingers to his mouth and gave a sharp whistle. Red looked up first to identify the source of the strange noise and Silver slowly raised his head almost as if he knew that Robert was calling to him and was challenging him.

"Get Jett into his holding cell and call Simon to have him assess the injuries," said Robert as he began to walk sideways, keeping eye contact with Silver and Red to lure them away.

As Marx stood above with a bucket of dead rodents and coaxed Jett into one of the cells where he could be contained and made to hold still so that the vet could tend to his wounds, Red snapped and snarled.

"Red," called Robert, raising his hand to get Red's attention again. "Don't you do it. You come with me."

He knew the raptors didn't understand his commands, but they did answer to their names and the intensity of Robert's voice as he led them away from Jett and towards the far end of the paddock. Once Jett was safely into the cell, Robert lowered his hand and Red went off to nap in the shade while Silver remained glaring at Robert.

"He'll hate you for this," said Jay.

"Thanks, Jay."

Over at Jett's cell, Simon Bridges was spreading an ointment on the cuts inflicted by Jett's brothers and though Jett's eyes were focused unblinkingly on Simon with distrust, he was surprisingly calm. Simon was a man in his mid-fifties with narrow brown eyes, graying hair, and a smile that looked as evil as a raptor's sneer, but for all of these appearances counting against him, he was a rational man who cared for all of the animals without reservations because as he put it, "it's not their fault that they never existed with humans until now".

"He'll be fine as long as you keep him separated from Silver and Red for a while. You might have to take his brothers or him out of the race tomorrow if they haven't reconciled by then."

"They've never gone at him like that before," said Marx. "They were intent on killing him."

"Sometimes that happens in packs," said Robert. "It happens with wolves and lions; the alpha orders an attack on another member of the pack if that member challenged him in any way. Even family members are kicked out or savaged and quite often killed for food."

"The only difference here is that we put millions of dollars into keeping this pack alive and we've spent four years training them to get along, so if Jett gets killed off now, it hurts the park," said Grant. "People love Jett and they know him to be the fastest raptor the majority of the time. Having to announce that his siblings killed him could ruin the park's reputation for keeping its animals in check."

"Well, Hammond may have to find a way around that if Silver doesn't accept Jett back," said Simon.

"I'll bring it up at the board meeting tonight," said Grant. "If Silver doesn't accept Jett back, we'll have to keep him in isolation until another paddock can be built for him and then we'll have to breed more to interact with Jett or he'll become rogue and the investors will see him as useless and have him put down."

"And we can't have that," said Robert darkly.

"Robert, this is a living creature who's just been attacked. It's not his fault," said Grant.

"You continue to keep your sympathies for the raptors' awful lot in life, but I still see each and every one of these things as predators and if we have to put Jett down, it's the most humane thing we can do."

"I think he'd disagree with you on that," said Simon, nodding to Jett who was staring unblinkingly at Robert.

Raptors could not convey any emotions besides curiosity and anger, yet the intensity with which Jett was watching Robert suggested that the smallest raptor was highly against the idea of being put down because he had outraced his siblings and been attacked for it. Being punished for excelling at something was a shit deal anywhere.

"You shouldn't be so quick to judge them, Robert," said Simon. "Of all of them, I've observed that Jett is the most compliant, if he is a bit rambunctious at times." He patted Jett very carefully on the snout and Jett gave a subdued snort through his nostrils.

As with all the animals, Robert had also held Jett when he was a hatchling and spent the most time with him in the nursery before Jett started to show the signs of aggression and distrust of humans, but that may have been because he was following in his siblings' footsteps. And if there was one thing raptors understood from humans, it was respect. Robert had stepped in to save Jett and if it was possible, the raptor might possibly understand that.

Robert put his fingertips on the point of Jett's nose and the raptor gave the infamous purr. Whether or not that suggested that Jett saw Robert as a friend or food remained to be seen.

"I'll bring this up at the meeting tonight as well," said Grant with a small smile.


	4. Chapter 4: Those Who Fail to Learn

As was customary for a board meeting to discuss the overall wellbeing of the dinosaurs, the park's satisfaction rating with guests, and potential attractions, a representative from each job type was present at the meeting which doubled as a dinner. The idea was that the top investor and park snob, Oliver Keenan, tried to win over the employees by providing a luxury dinner in which he promised them raises if they complied with his requests. The downside to this was that four years in, all of his requests had turned into demands and none of his promises for raises or perks had been met so that the employees dreaded these annual meetings.

Robert was there to represent security, Grant stood in for research, Dr. Austin Hill came on behalf of the scientists and chemical engineers who bred the dinosaurs, Simon represented the vet clinic, Tobias stood for handlers, a woman by the name of Penny was in charge of attraction operations, and Allison Cartwright was speaker for tourism. Other representatives included Ray Arnold of operations and other individuals who were department heads for maintenance, amenities, janitorial, and transportation. Together, there was about twenty of them, excluding Hammond and Oliver Keenan who took seats at either end of the rectangular table.

Keenan was a small man, about as tall as Jay, but where Jay looked approachable and had a sense of humor, Keenan was made of disdain and oozed stereotypical smugness for his higher position. He had beady black eyes, a rather large forehead, and short, buzzed pale blonde hair. His lack of height did nothing to deter his enormous appetite, however, as he ordered from Hammond's personal menu.

Dinner this year was a Salisbury steak with other delicacies and a fine selection of wine, but no one seemed to be in the mood for eating apart from Keenan who tucked into his dinner with enthusiasm. Unbeknownst to him, the employees ate a quick supper before attending the meeting so that they didn't owe Keenan one bite of food. It was only Hammond who politely picked at his food while trying to get everyone else to indulge, but when Keenan had finished and still no one else had eaten, Hammond gave up.

"First off, I'd like to congratulate you all on another year of zero dinosaur-related incidents," said Keenan, rubbing his hands together enthusiastically as he launched into his suck-up and pitch for the upcoming year. "Raptor races have been an enormous success and the mainland is even promoting the races. They're talking about bringing in the raptor with the most wins at the end of the year for a special demonstration of speed—"

"I don't think so," said Robert before Keenan could continue. Hammond shot Robert a look of warning to not antagonize their benefactor, but Robert wasn't going to stand for any bullshit from this clueless man this year. "We've never had to sedate our raptors because weapons make them nervous, make them unpredictable, and we'd have to sedate them to get them aboard any type of transport. And taking any dinosaur off of this island, which is the only thing they know, would be the most idiotic thing you could do with them. Raptors don't respond well to crowds, which is why the races hide the sights and noises of the crowd from them, otherwise they'd go ballistic. You can't take a raptor to the mainland for a press conference to show off their speed. If you want to highlight it, bring the people here."

Robert could tell that Keenan hadn't expected to be shot down so quickly this year, but the man was quick to recover.

"I've taken polls on what guests feel would add to the park and among interaction with the dinosaurs for the less wealthy as well as themed rides like rollercoasters, what people most want to see, is the herbivores and carnivores meeting as they would have millions of years ago. They want to see what a _baryonyx_ would do to a _gallimimus_ or a _parasaurolophus_. They want to see the main attraction, Titus, take on a _stegosaurus_ or an _ankylosaurus_ and see a _pterandon_ swoop down on a raptor. In other words, our next goal is to make something of an arena for the dinosaurs to battle it out."

Robert didn't believe what he was hearing. Gladiator fights. Keenan wanted to bring unsuspecting dinosaurs into this world to meet gruesome ends at the hands of another dinosaur. Breeding killing machines and cannon fodder. Hammond clearly disapproved of the idea, but seemed shocked beyond words, for all he could do was stare open-mouthed at Keenan in horror at the suggestion of making the animals he loved and cared for massacred for other people's delight.

"That's illegal," said Grant carefully. "There's a reason why zoos are designed the way they are to separate the animals so that there's no fighting or loss of life. Dingos aren't paired with antelope. Lions and zebras don't share pens. Zoos exist to protect these endangered species and that's what we're doing here. We've brought dinosaurs out of extinction, but at great cost and risk, and breeding them for sport goes against everything the park stands for."

"The park stands for profit, Dr. Grant," said Keenan as if explaining a complicated equation to a child. "This is what people want to see, so we give it to them."

"No," said Robert firmly, looking around at the rest of the employees. "Am I the only one with a head on my shoulders here? Look, we've pushed the boundaries of human and dinosaur interaction and mugged the shit out of nature in forcing these species to exist in a time that doesn't want them, but creating them solely to watch them kill each other is not only pointless, it's inhumane. I've never approved of their creation, but I don't approve of their extinction by these means."

"The dinosaurs don't own themselves; we do," said Keenan. "We have every right to do with them what we please, and what humans have wanted to see more than the dinosaurs themselves is dinosaurs battling to the death to see who the dominant species is. The mysteries of the natural world are already solved: would a lion win against a tiger, would a wolf survive against a bear. The people want more and more means seeing if a t-rex can take down a _brachiosaurus_ and if a raptor pack is enough to kill a triceratops."

"But where does it stop?" asked Grant. "It costs millions to make these animals, just to have them slaughtered. It's the concept of dog fights and society will tell you that only scum deal in dog fights because animal lives are just as valuable as ours. Making living things fight to the death for entertainment is morally unacceptable, as we've learned from Ancient Rome. The gladiators were glorified during the time, but we see from the history books that they were slaves, living lives that weren't their own, and slavery is something we've fought against for centuries all over the world. You're repeating history, Mr. Keenan, and by doing that, you're endangering the human race."

"Anyone feel the same way?" asked Keenan, but it sounded like a threat more than a genuine question asking for people's honest opinions.

"I'm with Robert and Dr. Grant," said Austin. "I won't commit to making these animals just so that they can be killed for people's pleasure and profit."

"Then you can find yourself another job," said Keenan.

"Now, just one moment, Oliver," said Hammond firmly. "I rely on you and others to continue to fund the park, but I alone hold the power to terminate employees and I'll not have a single person on this island thrown out for stating their opinions."

"This is what the people want, John, and if you can't deliver, you can't continue," said Keenan.

"I dare you to say something else to threaten him," said Tobias, standing up. "Isn't it enough that dinosaurs exist? Without John's contributions to science and his passion for the unknown, this park wouldn't exist. John's brought you more profit than you'll need for the rest of your life so that you could have someone wipe your ass for you every time you take a shit, but now that he's finally telling you no, you bare your fangs at him. You're making enemies here quickly, Keenan, and you'd better watch it because the dinosaurs aren't the only ones who'll fight back when threatened."

"I want that man's employment terminated by morning, Mr. Hammond, or I'll cease funding immediately," said Keenan, pointing at Tobias.

"Then you'll have to fire us all, and good luck replacing everyone by morning," said Grant. "This park needs more than just funding to keep it running; it needs people who know their job backwards, and if you lose us, you lose your investments, Keenan."

Thunder rolled overhead and Robert heard the promised storm finally swooping in. The lights flickered and the sound of wind and rain slamming against the building made them all jump. Elliot's voice over the loudspeakers asked everyone to remain calm and stay inside until the storm passed, reminding them of emergency numbers to dial and safety bunkers to retreat to in case the storm worsened.

"I'd say the weather's showing its disapproval of your suggestions as well, Mr. Keenan," said Grant.

"We've bred these animals and raised them as if they were pets, only with a larger maintenance scale," said Allison. "They have relationships with us and you can't just barge in here and demand that we send them to their deaths so that other people can get their money's worth based off of a few bloodthirsty reviews. Noona just celebrated her third birthday, and she's damn well earned the right to some peace and quiet, and now you want to sic the raptor pack on her? You want Titus to rip into Beatrice and Craven and all the other _brachiosaurus_ we've raised? Are you out of your mind?"

"If these animals are so expendable, Mr. Keenan, why don't you try to raise one?" suggested Ray Arnold with a cigarette between his lips and smoke obscuring half of his face. "Just one of these animals takes more work to make it to adulthood than ten dogs and a handful of cats, plus a horse for good measure. We're only just now learning their temperaments and they're even unpredictable then, but they trust us to protect them and provide for them. Take that away, and you'll have a double-sided riot on your hands."

"That's right," said Simon. "Animals react as one to a crisis or anything out of the ordinary. They all sensed the storm coming today, so they were nervous and prepared for it by hunkering down, turning to their handlers for comfort. If we start picking them out of their pens for slaughter, they'll sense it, and they'll turn on us to survive. All of the animals in the park will go wild, but that's only a fraction of the chaos that'll ensue. Humanitarians and animal rights activists and anyone with a brain will protest against us using the dinosaurs as slabs of meat. Are you going to listen to the whines of the few, or the protests of the many? Most of the people here are repeat guests who come back to see their favorite animals, like the local zoos on the mainland. All zoos name their animals and the people come back to see the animals when they give birth or have a birthday. The same thing happens here; you saw the turnout for Noona. Just you suggest pitting her against a predator for survival and see how fast the guests demand for your head. People will sue."

"If it's more money you need, Mr. Keenan, then build the rollercoaster, let all guests pet the grown dinosaurs, but don't invest in these gladiator fights, because every person who works on this island will fight you every step of the way," said Grant. "If you try to go for the alternative, you'll lose the park."

Another clap of thunder actually made the wine in Robert's glass ripple as the lights gave another flicker. Robert thought of the carnivore pens and how each of them ran on backup generators in case of power outages because it was more imperative to keep the predators contained than to secure those who posed less of a threat to humans. The generators had to be activated by hand, however.

Robert excused himself from the table and went off to the corner of the room to radio Jay and Marx at the raptor paddock. "Stand by to turn on the backup generators," he told them. "If the power goes out, switch them on immediately and arm yourselves. Make sure everyone on-duty is equipped with stunners and live ammunition." Robert relayed the same call to the handlers of the _tyrannosaurus_ paddock, the _dilophosaurus_ enclosure, the _baryonyx_ corral, the _metriacanthosaurus_ pen, and the _carnotaurus_ field, realizing that perhaps Hammond had bred too many carnivores than was necessary.

Back at the table, Keenan was now arguing the point of Jurassic Park becoming a second-rate, nearly abandoned theme park because of its lack of new and engaging attraction while Grant, Tobias, and Simon provided valid reasons to not continue with the proposed idea. Hammond was resting his forehead on his amber-topped walking stick with weariness when the third thunderclap brought them all into silence.

"The power's going to go," said Arnold. "We're going to have a blackout—"

"Don't be absurd; the park's more than equipped to deal with tropical storms," said Keenan dismissively.

"It's going to go," said Robert.

Elliot began announcing locations for candles, matches, and flashlights, but was cut off mid-speech as with an electric power-down, they were all plunged into complete darkness.


	5. Chapter 5: Blackout

"More than well-equipped, he says," muttered Arnold from somewhere off to Robert's right.

Tobias was the first to bring out his pocket flashlight, shining it around the room to check on everyone. Seconds later, Robert heard the doors to the hallway open and Elliot's voice asked in a would-be calm fashion, "I think people are starting to panic."

"In the event of a park-wide blackout, protocol is to gather in the gymnasiums," said Hammond, taking charge now that his friends and his employees as well as his guests could very well be in danger. "All employees know this and they'll be helping to escort the guests to the designated location. Everyone file out into the kitchens to gather up flashlights…"

"I have to go," said Simon anxiously. "I have to find my children."

"They're probably helping guests; it's their job," said Austin.

"I have to find them," Simon insisted.

"Elliot, start rallying people towards the gym with one of those bullhorns—"

"Get security at every exit and entrance to the building—"

"Ray, find out the live count from the last check-in and start doing a head count once everyone's in the gyms—"

"Are the backup generators on-?"

In the confusion of people asking questions left and right, Robert lost Simon who had most likely gone to look for Eva and Trenton. On the pretense of organizing the heads of departments into groups so that everyone wasn't bumping into each other in the dark, Robert heard the t-rex handler over his radio and pressed a hand over his exposed ear to hear Miguel Vasquez better.

"Say again Miguel, I couldn't hear you."

"Titus is trying to break through the paddock," said the panicked voice of Miguel. "Even with the backup generators on, they aren't powerful enough to shock him. He's coming through, Robert—"

"Keep calm, man, and tranq him," said Robert levelly. "Five darts should do it. Get your other handlers and shoot him."

"Shoot who?" asked Keenan suddenly.

" _Disparale!_ " shouted Miguel, then his line cut out and went full static.

Robert paused for the briefest of moments, taking into consideration the fact that it was highly likely that all of Titus the t-rex's handlers had just been eaten or killed in some other gruesome manner, leaving the t-rex paddock vulnerable and unguarded.

"Grant, I'm going to need some help," said Robert levelly. He found Hammond in the dark and in an undertone added, "Keep me on the radio and let me know if anything happens here. I need to go out to the t-rex paddock. No one goes outside once they come in."

"Robert, what's wrong?" asked Hammond, catching Robert by the arm.

"Everything's fine, but no one goes outside," Robert repeated. "And keep everyone as quiet as you can. Emergency lights to a minimum." As Grant fell into line behind Robert who was already rushing down the hall with the aid of a flashlight to a weapon closet, he had the same question to ask as Hammond, but Robert ignored him as he switched his radio to the universal security frequency. "All units go heavily armed. I repeat: all units go heavily armed, possible asset out of containment."

"Is Titus loose?" asked Grant.

"He might be; that's what we're going to find out," said Robert, choosing a rifle from the closet and handing off a similar one to Grant who was holding the flashlight for him. Robert gave Grant the rundown of how to operate the weapon and then hurried on his way to the garage where he had his selection of vehicles to choose from. He chose a jeep since it would work best for the slippery roads and was capable of going faster than Titus's top speed in case they were pursued. Grant found a pair of yellow rain jackets in the back and they both slipped one on as Robert backed the car out of the garage and headed towards the t-rex paddock.

"If Titus is out, Tobias would have been more use to you," said Grant as they hit a hole in the road and the car made an ungainly dip.

"I want Tobias with Keenan so that the little prick doesn't stir up more trouble," said Robert.

Even with Robert testing the boundaries of the jeep's wheels in the downpour, it took some time getting onto the main employee road, but before he continued on to Titus's paddock, he honked as he came up to the raptor enclosure where a handful of handlers were standing around the perimeter catwalk instead of the middle.

"One of you get down here now, I need help!" called Robert and seconds later Jay was sliding through the mud towards him, his shoulder-length hair plastered to his face and his glasses completely fogged up.

"Dude, this rain's like nothing I've ever seen. It didn't rain this much in Seattle all year—"

"Does Marx have the raptors under control?" asked Robert before taking off.

"Yeah, all's quiet and contained. Backup generators online and Jett's in seclusion. The hell's going on out in the rest of the park?"

"Titus may be loose," said Robert. "Miguel's line was cut mid-sentence and if that's the case, we'll have to tranq Titus ourselves at least until we can get him moved back into the paddock."

"God, don't say that. It'd take a hundred cars to move him an inch if he decides to nap in the middle of the road."

"Better to spend hours getting him back into his paddock than to let him wander around and potentially eat someone else or break into another carnivore's paddock," reasoned Grant.

Robert was nearly laying on the steering wheel to see clearly and even with his brights, it was almost impossible to see the road. When they reached the mile marker to Titus's pen, a call came over the radio from the Visitor's Center. Robert heard Tobias's voice say something about panicking guests when-

"Watch out!" cried Jay, pointing ahead at the massive creature in the middle of the road with its maw opened wide.

"My God," said Grant in horrified awe just before Robert veered the jeep sideways to avoid smashing into Titus and as the wheels skidded in the mud, the momentum of the sudden brakes coupling with the speeding car and causing the entire thing to topple sideways. Robert was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown out into the drowning grass. He heard the jeep rolling down the hill, but even louder than the deafening crash were the thundering footsteps of Titus as the animal stomped after the vehicle's turning lights.

Praying that if either Jay or Grant were still in the car and conscious or even alive, they would turn off the headlights, Robert kept still to watch Titus walk right past him laying in the mud. Then, miraculously, the lights of the jeep went out and Titus stopped halfway down the hill as if contemplating where his target had gone. After a few tense moments in which Robert waited for the t-rex to move off, Titus left in pursuit of visible prey and Robert stood up gingerly, testing to see if anything was broken or sprained. His tailbone was slightly sore from where he had landed on it, but he seemed otherwise unscathed and so he set his heels to the hill, placed his hands on the ground on either side of him and slid down the rest of the way.

With the instincts of someone who had spent over half of his life anticipating being attacked, Robert dropped to the ground as he heard the sound of a gun being cocked. The bullet went over his head, but the report of the rifle was like sending up a flare to all nearby predators.

"Damn it, hold your fire!" Robert cursed as he stood up.

"Robert?" said Jay, appearing from the other side of the jeep wielding Robert's weapon. "Dude, I nearly fucking shot you, why didn't you speak up?"

"Where's Grant?"

"I don't know, I haven't started looking yet. I just had time to turn off the lights once the damn jeep stopped rolling and then I went for a weapon."

"I'm here," said a voice weakly from under the capsized vehicle.

Robert knelt down and shone his pocket flashlight to illuminate Grant whose left leg was trapped beneath one of the car doors. Grant's face was screwed up in pain and he was bleeding from a cut over his eye.

"Do you think it's broken?" asked Robert, trying to pull some clumps of mud aside with his fingers to make it easier to pull Grant out from the car wreckage.

"No, I think it's worse," said Grant. "And I think I'm in shock, because I can't feel it. I might have damaged the nerves."

"Easy, easy," said Robert as Jay helped to pry Grant's leg from under the door. When the limb finally came free, Robert gave an inward groan at the sight of bone marrow visible for at least a quarter of an inch down the leg. Jay made a look of disgust, but removed his raincoat, sliced off a sleeve, and secured it around Grant's leg.

"That's all I feel safe doing until we can get him back to the compound."

"That's at least two miles from the point where we went off the road and we have to get him back up the hill first," Robert pointed out. "And in this weather, with the ground being so slick, there's no chance of that happening."

"Then leave me," said Grant. "Get back to the compound and come back for me once you have help."

Robert crawled under the car and began to rummage around for the walkie-talkie. After much swearing as he hit his head on the low ceiling, he found the radio—sopping wet like everything else. Clearing the mud from the buttons, he pressed "talk" to see if he would get any reception on the other end. There was some static, which gave him hope.

"Control, this is Muldoon. Requesting assistance on West Dock turnoff, two miles inland between t-rex and raptor paddocks. One in critical condition. If anyone is receiving me, respond. Asset out of containment and one in critical condition. Tobias, Ray, someone respond."

More static met his request, but he kept repeating the message in the hopes that someone would hear the gist of the message and send help. Finally, after about ten minutes of this, Robert heard a very choppy message in response.

"Reques…knowledge…ET…loc…Fif…utes."

"They're coming for us," Robert assured Grant who was starting to nod off either from pain or another stage of shock. Jay tapped the side of Grant's face to make him stay awake and then pulled Grant's hood up over his head to shield it from the rain.

"He's gonna be pissed that he lost his hat," said Jay. "How'd you manage to keep yours?"

"That's irrelevant," said Robert. "Just sit tight and shut up."

From the estimated fifteen minutes that Robert had managed to understand from the choppy radio, it was actually more along the lines of seventeen or eighteen minutes until he heard a car coming up the road and he shined his flashlight to hail the vehicle. It was manned by Christoph who had a gun sitting in his lap and company hanging out of the seat beside him.

"Alan!" cried Bianca, leaping out of the car and throwing herself down the hill to reach Grant who awoke with a small and delayed start at the sound of her voice, much to Robert's concern. Bianca grabbed Grant's face and tried to peer into his eyes. "He's in shock for sure, and if he doesn't get medical attention immediately, he's going to lose that leg. Christoph, get that sled down here!"

From the road, Christoph lowered the med evac sled used for transporting victims out of difficult spots and together, Robert, Jay, and Bianca moved Grant onto it, securing him in place so that Christoph could operate the winch to get the sled moving upward. Once he had disconnected Grant, Christoph sent the line back down for the rest of them who simply had to hold on as the winch reeled them in. They all set Grant in the back seat, clambered into after him, and Christoph put the pedal to the floor, spraying mud in all directions as he took off for the Visitor's Center.

Robert stole the radio from the front seat and ordered Marx to keep all raptor handlers vigilant until a replacement team could be sent out to relieve them. The rest of the carnivore handlers reported no disturbances. Robert then alerted Simon to set up a medical station to have ready for operation on Grant as soon as they arrived.

Grant beamed at Jay who was closest to him in the seat.

"Why're you smiling, dude?"

"This'll make Keenan think twice about gladiators," said Grant.

"Quit looking at me like that; it's freaking me out."

"What does he mean, gladiators?" asked Bianca.

"It's nothing," said Robert. And after Titus's escape, it was definitely looking like Keenan's big plans for dinosaurs dueling to the death were turning out to be nothing.


End file.
